Microsoft talk ReFS, the next generation of Windows file system

Microsoft have shared details on the new file system being developed with Windows 8. ReFS (Resilient File System) is going to be a part of Windows Server and then be part of the Windows client OS at some point in the future and includes auto-correction of data and is optimized for scale.

In this blog post I’d like to talk about a new file system for Windows. This file system, which we call ReFS, has been designed from the ground up to meet a broad set of customer requirements, both today’s and tomorrow’s, for all the different ways that Windows is deployed.

The key goals of ReFS are:

Maintain a high degree of compatibility with a subset of NTFS features that are widely adopted while deprecating others that provide limited value at the cost of system complexity and footprint.

Verify and auto-correct data. Data can get corrupted due to a number of reasons and therefore must be verified and, when possible, corrected automatically. Metadata must not be written in place to avoid the possibility of “torn writes,” which we will talk about in more detail below.

Optimize for extreme scale. Use scalable structures for everything. Don’t assume that disk-checking algorithms, in particular, can scale to the size of the entire file system.

Never take the file system offline. Assume that in the event of corruptions, it is advantageous to isolate the fault while allowing access to the rest of the volume. This is done while salvaging the maximum amount of data possible, all done live.

Provide a full end-to-end resiliency architecture when used in conjunction with the Storage Spaces feature, which was co-designed and built in conjunction with ReFS.

About the author Ian Dixon:Founder of The Digital Lifestyle.com and host of The Digital Lifestyle Show.
Started podcasting in 2005, Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP.
Lover of gadgets from the Raspberry Pi to the iPad, Android to Windows 8. Also a massive motor racing fan